Iconic Callan Park: history and heritage, sanctuary and playground – and the role of Friends of Callan Park
Callan Park is the biggest green space in the crowded inner west of Sydney with a unique mix of culture, history and environmental significance.
The traditional land of the Gadigal and Wangal people, its 61 hectares include First Nations’ middens as well as heritage-listed 19th century sandstone buildings, historic designed arboretums and gardens that are a vivid testament to its long and complex history, including as a hospital and rehabilitation home to those with mental ill health.
The rare remnant Turpentine Ironbark forest and indigenous coastal heath provide essential sanctuary for wildlife including birds, blue-tongue lizards and ring-tail possums.
It is valued by the community for its open parkland, mature trees and biodiversity. It is a place where people can quietly sit and reflect, walk dogs and play with their children. There is also space within the natural landscape for organised and individual sporting activities that are enjoyed by the local community and many visitors. Callan Park provides a breathing space where everyone can find a connection – to the outdoors, to heritage, and to family and community and to themselves.
The Friends of Callan Park (FOCP) was formed in 1998 by a group of dedicated and passionate volunteers to ensure that Callan Park is protected for public use now and for future generations. Members of FOCP work with the wider community to ensure the unique values of this heritage parkland site are understood, appreciated and protected. FOCP organises tours of the heritage site to visitors fascinated by its history. It also advocates for funding for the restoration of heritage buildings and artefacts, the repurposing of suitable buildings for modern mental health services, and for a governance structure that prioritises community participation, proper planning, fully funded maintenance and sustainability.
The Friends objectives are:
- To protect and preserve the heritage character of Callan Park
- To maintain and extend the green open space at Callan Park, including the bushland
- To welcome and accommodate modern mental health uses
- To encourage community participation in the management of Callan Park, including the creation of a Callan Park Trust to manage the site
- To restore to the Callan Park (Special Provisions) Act the protections relating to public control and green open space (including on the foreshore), the limits to commercialisation, safeguards against privatisation, and the guarantee of community participation in planning decisions.
Callan Park is not just a beautiful luxury. It is an essential and much-loved part of inner-city life in Sydney.